Note 958 — Chapter II · : STATE SOCIALISM

Wagner recognises the arbitrary nature of his suggestions. Theoretically, he says, this method of procedure is quite legitimate, but practically it is not so simple, “for the object, in short, is to employ the principles of equity and of social utility, which are by no means difficult to formulate, and to transmute those principles into legislative enactments, so as to put a check upon the arbitrary and excessive accumulation of wealth in the hands of a few individuals, such as is the case under a régime of free competition.” (Finanzwissenschaft und Staatssozialismus, p. 719.)